Game apparatus



Feb. 26, 1963 P. J. MGELHANEY 3,079,153

GAME APPARATUS Filed June 3, 1960 INVENTOR Fl 2 PAUL JOHN MC ELHANEY BYM lo lo ATTORNEYS United States 3,079,153 GAME APPARATUS Paul JohnMcEihaney, 2185 Estabrook Circle, San Leandro, Calif. Filed June 3,196i), Ser. No. 33,865 1 Claim. (Cl. 273-37) My invention relates to agame apparatus embodying a new game of skill, to 'be known as PoloTen-Pins, which will consist of ten small maple pins, a large maplemallet, and an ebonite ball.

The object of this invention is to provide a new and interesting gamerequiring much less playing area than either bowling or croquet, whilebeing readily adaptable to both indoor and outdoor use-an approvedhardwood floor will be required for tournament play, but, forconvenience, the game may be played on almost any type of surface.

The accompanying drawings will illustrate the size and construction ofthe playing area, as well as the equipment necessary for this new anddifferent game.

FIGURE 1 is a plan View of the playing area; FIGURE 2 is a cross sectionview of the Alley and Players Platform; FIGURE 3 is a side view of theplaying area; FIG- URE 4 is a side view of the maple mallet and ball;and FIGURE 5 is a side View of the maple pin and ball.

FIGURE l, the plan View of the playing area, consists of the Pit (A),the Alley (B), and the Players Platform (C).

The Pit is an area forty four inches wide, by forty eight inches long;it surrounds the end of the Alley, on which the pins are spotted. ThePit area is surrounded on the sides and back by a curb 14 with a cottonfilled canvas matting 15, for the protection of the pins and balls; thecurb is twenty inches in height. Both the floor of the pit A and theinner surfaces of the curb 14 are padded to deaden the sound, when thepins 22 strike the padding.

The Alley is a maple surfaced area, twenty eight inches wide and twentyone feet three inches long. The Alley has a curbing 13 of one inchplywood, ten inches in height, that is firmly secured to both sides ofthe Alley; the curb extends from the Players Platform to the curb 14 ofthe Pit area. Ten maple pins 22 are spotted on a twenty two inchtriangle at the end of the Alley.

The Players Platform is of the same maple surfaced material as theAlley; it is forty two inches long, and sixty four inches wide. ThePlatform has a painted foul line, Iwhich is twenty feet from the headpin; the ball 21 is played between two diamond shaped markers in back ofthe foul line.

FIGURE 2 is a cross section showing the construction of the Alley. Inthe Alley and Players Platform redwood runners are firmly secured to theoor or ground; the runners are to be surfaced, and must be three incheshigh and not less than four inches wide. A one inch plywood subsurface11 is iirmly secured to the runners. A maple planking 12 is then appliedto the subsurface; the planking must be not less than five sixteenths ofan inch thick, and not more than two inches in width; it is finished bysanding and lacquering. A one inch plywood curb 13 is firmly secured toboth sides of the Alley.

FIGURE 3 is a side view of the elevation of the entire playing area,showing: the twenty inch curb 14 of the Pit area, the ten inch curb 13of the Alley, the pins 22 spotted on a twenty two inch triangle at theend of the Alley, and the Players Platform; the ball 21 is played fromthe foul line, twenty feet from the head pin.

FIGURE 4 shows aside elevational view of the maple mallet. The mallethead 16 is turned from solid maple;

3,079,153 Patented Feb. 26, 1953 it is two and tive eighths inches indiameter, and eight and one half inches in length, tapering slightly atthe ends; firm rubber or plastic tips 18 of three eighths inch thicknessare cemented firmly to the ends of the mallet head 16. The handle, alsoof maple 19 is one inch in diameter and twenty six and one half inchesin length; it is threaded two inches into the center of the mallet head.The grip area 20 is fourteen inches long, and, for a slip free grip, iscovered with spiral wrapped perforated leather. The ball 21 is ofpolished ebonite, four inches in diameter, weighing exactly thirty twoounces.

FIGURE 5 is a vertical section of the maple pin 22 which is turned fromsolid maple; it is eight and one half inches in height, one and liveeighths inches at the base, and three inches at its widest point.

The game will be played by spotting the ten pins on a twenty two inchtriangle at the end of the Alley; the pins will be numbered from onethrough ten. The ball 21 will be driven from the Players Platform backof the foul line, which is twenty feet from the head pin. Each playerwill have ten turns or frames, playing two balls per frame; the scoringwill be the same as in bowling.

I claim:

In a game apparatus: a players platform; an elongated alley extendingforwardly from the players platform; the alley having an upper surfacedisposed flush with an upper surface of the players platform, whereby aball resting on the players platform may be propelled by a mallet so asto roll along the alley; the alley having a forward end provided with apin-spotting area on which a plurality of pins may be placed forstriking by the ball, when the latter is rolled forwardly; a pitdisposed at the forward end of the alley, and having the pin-spottingarea located within the pit; the pit having spaced side curbs locatedlaterally beyond the lateral sides of the alley, and further having aback curb spaced longitudinally beyond the forward end of the alley,whereby the pit extends around two sides and one end of the pin-spottingarea to receive the ball and struck pins; a pair of spaced side curbsextending lengthwise of the alley from the players platform up to butnot beyond that end of the pit which is nearer the players platform,whereby the struck pins may be deflected laterally from the pin-spottingarea of the alley and against the side curbs of the pit, the side curbsof said alley being of less height than the -side curbs of said pit, theside curbs of the alley being butted against the adjacent lateral sidesof the alley, whereby the ball will be confined to the upper surface ofthe alley as it rolls forwardly therealong; the players platformextending transverselv relative to the length of the alley andprojecting beyond both lateral sides of the alley, whereby a player maystand on either laterally-projecting portion of the players platform;the players platform having a foul line on its upper surface extendingtransversely relative to the length of the alley to indicate a locationback of which the player must stand; the upper surface of the playersplatform further being provided with a pair of spaced markers adjacentto the foul line and indicating an area in which the ball must be placedprior to being struck by the mallet.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 463,454Rogers Nov. 17, 1891 616,557 Phares Dec. 27, 1898 1,035,658 Talbert etal Aug. 13, 1912 1,548,068 Sullivan Aug. 4, 1925 2,193,468 Vickery Mar.12, 1940 2,601,552 Niewinski June 24, 1952

